To: Members of the Criminal Defense Bar, St. Francois County
From: Grant R. Doty, APD
Date: February 3, 2026
Subject: Discovery Information regarding Farmington Police Department Electronic Evidence

Other posts regarding Rule 57.03(b)(4) depo info

• Ste. Genevieve County Sheriff’s Department (SGCSD) [pending]
• Farmington Police Department (FPD) [this post]
• Bismarck Police Department (BPD)
• St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department (SFCSD)

Overview (with cautionary footnote – below [highlighted in yellow])

This memo outlines critical insights gained during a current case in which a central issue is the retention and production of electronic communications, body camera footage, and dash camera video. I am providing it to you with the assumption that some of the information is relevant to other criminal cases, including yours. And I anticipate this information can be used, absent changes to the current policies, to proactively seek preservation of such evidence 1
before it might be destroyed pursuant to policy.

The Rule 57.03(b)(4) Tool

Under Mo. R. Civ. P. 57.03(b)(4) (applicable via Mo. R. Crim. P. 25.12), a party may name a governmental agency as a deponent and describe the matters for examination. The organization must then designate one or more officers or persons to testify on its behalf regarding matters known or reasonably available to the organization. This allows the defense to obtain “organizational answers” rather than just the personal knowledge of an individual.

Deposition of the Farmington Police Department (FPD)

On January 14, 2026, a deposition was held at the Missouri State Public Defender’s office in Farmington. Chief of Police Christopher Bullock appeared as the designated representative for the department. He provided sworn testimony regarding the following general topics:

• General Topic A: Body Cams – Hardware models, programming, storage, and retention.
• General Topic B: Email – Service providers, internal messaging, and retention.
• General Topic C: Dash Cams – Installation, triggering mechanisms, and storage.

Caution 1: I suspect that some of these policies may be likely to change; this information is a snapshot of time (January 14, 2025) and for a substantial period before this date.
Caution 2: This deposition did not cover the following: (1) actual compliance with policies; (2) proper (or improper) tagging of videos (e.g., if an officer tags a body camera video as “warrant arrest,” it should be retained pursuant to the policy for 90 days; but if that arrest might have included a “critical interview” in another matter related or unrelated to person arrested on the warrant, it would be saved for 180 days if so tagged); (3) possible retention by the contractor Digital Ally for body camera video; or the City for dash camera video beyond the policy specification; (4) saving additional copies of bodycam videos by officers on the City maintained “Server” which might survive deletion of videos after the retention period elapses.

Farmington Police Department Policies

The following details the policies and procedures of the Farmington Police Department as testified to by Chief Bullock:

Body Cameras

• Hardware: FPD uses Digital Ally EVO 090 body cameras.
• Number and issuance: The FPD will have at least 38 officers once three more are hired.
  • Individual Issuance: Officers who are assigned to uniformed personnel are issued individual body-worn cameras (BWCs).
  • Command Staff: In addition to patrol officers, staff members such as lieutenants, captains, and the Chief also have their own body cameras.
  • Replacement Units: The department maintains “spare” cameras to be used if an officer’s primary unit breaks or malfunctions.
  • Triggering: Body cameras are triggered by vehicle light bar activation, gun lock releases, speeds over 85 mph, or manual activation.
  • Policy: Per Policy 72, officers must record any interaction with the public that is not “casual” and any instance involving the preservation of evidence.
  • Retention Schedule: Data is stored on a Digital Ally cloud with the following retention periods based on officer designated or tagged “type” of recordings:
    • Accidental Recording: 14 days
    • Domestic: 90 days
    • Field Interview: 90 days
    • Traffic Accident: 90 days
    • Warrant Arrest: 90 days
    • All Other: 90 days
    • Critical Interview (including “Murder”) : 180 days
    • Traffic Stop: 180 days
    • Phone Call: 60 days
    • DWI: 1825 days
    • Pursuit: 1825 days
  • Production: The department transfers files to the prosecutor via Karpel. Teresa Bohn is the Custodian of Records and performs necessary redactions or blurring.

Email Communications

• Providers: The department uses Microsoft Office 365 for city emails (ending in @Farmington-Mo.gov) and an internal system within OMNIGO for report-related messaging.
• Retention: There is no written policy for the retention of emails. Officers are permitted to delete messages at their discretion.
• Management: City IT Director Floyd Massey is the custodian for email data and handles all server-level access or searches.
  • UPDATE: A subsequent Rule 57.03(b)(4) deposition of Massey revealed that emails are retained on the City server for 1 year regardless of whether the officers delete them; and they are archived for an additional year.

Dash Cameras

• Hardware: FPD utilizes Digital Ally models, specifically the DVM-800 (older) and various newer models.
• Number and issuance: The department operates at least 38 vehicles plus additional spares, and all but one of these vehicles are currently equipped with dash cameras that coordinate with the body cameras.
• Installation: Unlike bodycams, dashcams are installed in-house by the City Maintenance Supervisor, Jeff Bullock.
• Triggering: Triggered by vehicle light bar activation, speeds over 85 mph, or manual override (unsure of gun lock releases).
• Storage: Dashcam footage is stored on a local server managed by the City’s IT Department.
• Retention schedule to save dashcam video files:
  • Unknown by designee
• Transfer: Files download from vehicles automatically via Wi-Fi when the patrol vehicle enters the station parking lot.